I've been playing both SWTOR and World of Warcraft in the last couple of weeks, and I have to say that they are both distinctly awesome games. SWTOR has a very strong solo experience, and gives me a reason to keep playing. As to be expected, World of Warcraft has a stronger endgame experience, and the PvP system is much more well-developed.
SWTOR does have one observable drawback that most people agree on: it feels like a single-player game with multiplayer features. A lot of SWTOR converts were former WoW-ers who expected something with a seamless, open world. SWTOR does not provide this, and instead feels like a singleplayer Bioware campaign. The zones are walled off, (conventional) exploration is limited, and there is no feeling of a wide-open expanse. Essentially, the buildings and mountains towering in the distance are just a facade.
I think this problem arises when you handle SWTOR the same way you would WoW. But you have to remember that SWTOR and WoW are distinctly different games, and SWTOR doesn't have such a hard focus on "Get endgame, get gear", but places more emphasis on making the leveling experience fun and enjoyable in groups and in solo play. I think this is sobering, considering we've been playing many MMOs that sought to rush players through the starting zones and mid-level zones to progress to endgame content. SWTOR doesn't seem to want to accomplish this, and that's both a good and bad thing. A lot of players hitting level cap claim they're incredibly bored with the game because of the lack of compelling storyline quests. This is understandable, but some players don't even like the storytelling of SWTOR to begin with. They feel the quests are interruptive, drawn-out, and too involved.
I've enjoyed SWTOR, but I'm still playing World of Warcraft as my main MMO. Why? Because I prefer competitive endgame. I think SWTOR is a strong title and the second best MMORPG on the market today. It's the only one, in my opinion, that has come close to scratching World of Warcraft. Still, I can't help but stick around with World of Warcraft. I posit once again that Blizzard Entertainment will be the one to kill WoW, not any other company. Perhaps a few big titles like GW2 and SWTOR will bite away a decent amount of subscribers, but only Blizz can give the lethal dose.
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